12 Shocking Music Videos You Won't Believe Actually Exist
Nazism, incest, spree killing, suicides, crucifixions, furries and explicit nudity? I want my MTV.
Music videos have long been a medium for pushing boundaries, from provocative attempts to undermine mainstream homophobia (Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax) to darkly sexual masterpieces (Nine Inch Nails - Closer). Many of the most influential directors working in Hollywood today learned their trade by working on music videos, so it's telling that there has always been a large amount of impressive art gracing MTV's various different channels. There is a fine line, however, between aesthetically breaking down conservative prejudices and just simply being shocking for the sake of it. What happens when music videos go too far, courting controversy by projecting objectionable content that is genuinely mind-boggling in its offensiveness? This list documents some of the most shocking music videos ever created. Some are utterly brilliant works of visual art that broke boundaries like those mentioned above, and they are celebrated here. Others are not so wonderful, drawing on taboo subjects such as paedophilia, incest, blasphemy, rape, Nazism and completely blatant misogyny in their ill-conceived and glaringly obvious attempts to shock audiences. Many of these videos were either pulled, censored or banned because of their content. Fortunately, that hasn't prevented footage from continuing to circulate online, meaning it remains possible to expose these genuinely ridiculous videos to the world.